760 Women Entrepreneurs Pitch Businesses at Y’ellopreneur 3.0

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

No fewer than 760 women entrepreneurs participated in the third edition of Y’ellopreneur on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at the MTN Rooftop Events Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.

These female business owners pitched their businesses at the event for a chance to receive funding support from MTN Foundation and the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The two organisations launched a N1 billion funding initiative, with each providing N500 million to provide equipment financing for 200 women entrepreneurs seeking to scale their businesses. The beneficiaries can access loans of up to N5 million.

Before the pitch session, the participants underwent six weeks of intensive training at the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University to strengthen their business planning, management, market readiness and access to equipment financing.

One of the entrepreneurs, Precious, a fashion entrepreneur who runs an indigenous African fashion brand, said the training provided practical skills she can apply to growing her business, which combines African fabrics with contemporary designs.

She said the funding would help her acquire equipment and increase production capacity as demand for her products grows.

“I’m excited to put the skills I’ve gained from the training into practice and use them to improve my business, increase production and serve my customers better,” she said, adding that improved equipment would help her meet orders instead of turning away customers because of limited production capacity.

Another participant, Adejo Oladunni Olamide, who is a supervisor at Dunz Agro Food, said the six-week programme provided practical lessons for managing and growing her agribusiness, which operates in farming and food processing.

She said the training improved her knowledge of business, staff and customer management while giving her a clearer growth plan.

“The journey so far has been so innovative, from the learning, to the application, to the pitching. Through this process, I’ve been able to acquire knowledge on business management, staff management, and customer management,” she said.

The state manager of BOI, Ms Sandra O. Yoroh, State Manager, Bank of Industry, said the training had helped participants gain a better understanding of business structure and the requirements for building viable enterprises.

“They understand what they need to have a structure in the business and what it means for a business to be properly structured,” she said, noting that BOI would provide business advisory services and assess the businesses presented by the participants. The partnership is focused on helping women develop sustainable enterprises.